Our late grandfather (GBC) was manipulated and forced to create a Gift Deed by one of the sons. My father wants a share of the property but the problem is he too was manipulated to sign as a witness on this Gift Deed with a false promise to transfer his share soon.
Here's a brief overview and history of the dispute:
1. In 1969, late GBC acquired the land, as documented in the registered Sale Deed; 5 Acres (15 Bighas) in West Bengal, Alipurduar District.
2. My father, JBC, lived with his father until his late 40s. He was verbally announced as the owner of the property since he was taking care of it and living with the family.
3. My father's elder brother, TBC, was a forest ranger and he never lived with his father in the above property after his schooling.
4. In 2014, 6 bighas of land were gifted to AC (daughter of GBC), with TBC as the witness. Intriguingly, the funds from the government, totaling approximately 40 lakhs or more, intended for the ASIAN Highway project, were deposited into AC's account, now under the ownership of BL (son-in-law).
5. In 2015, TBC transferred all the land as a gift deed from GBC. Notably, one of the witnesses to the gift deed, my father JBC, was informed by TBC that BL (son-in-law of GBC) was attempting to gain control of the entire land through questionable means. To safeguard against this, they decided to transfer the property to TBC's name, trusting that his share of the property would be rightfully secured.
6. BL had previously verbally agreed to lease a portion of the land originally owned by GBC for the Teak plantation, a section currently under the ownership of TBC as part of the 9 Bighas. However, BL now claims ownership of this land, impeding TBC's intention to allocate it to JBC's share of 4 Bighas as agreed between TBC and JBC after several years of dispute and negotiation.
7. Despite TBC's disinterest in the land, except for monetary gain, he plans to sell the entire property, including the land with the teak plantation, to BL.
8. The complexity escalates as JBC requests 4 bighas of land from TBC, extending from the Asian Highway. However, BL opposes this request, asserting ownership, in contradiction to the West Bengal Land Registration, which designates TBC as the rightful owner of all 9 bighas.
9. Current situation: TBC agrees to give 4 bighas to JBC if BL gives a yes...which BL is not willing to do.
There are several other details in between these but I only shared what I think was most important. Based on this info and my research, I have a few questions for the experts which I would truly appreciate and I am also willing to work with someone competent to help us. My questions are:
- We have voice recordings of late GBC claiming TBC manipulated and forced him to sign the Gift deed. Can we file a suit claiming the gift deed was tainted with fraud? Are voice recordings accepted as evidence?
- Can my father, JBC file the suit? He was one of the witnesses in the Gift Deed, but he was manipulated and wrongfully promised his share of the property. Also, my father can't read or write in Bengali...and the gift deed was in Bengali so he just signed as his elder brother asked him to out of trust. If he can't, can I (or any other grandson) do that?
- Is there any other legal way to file an injunction to stop the buying/selling of the property?
PLEASE HELP. Your advice is much appreciated by our family. Thank you in advance.
